Communication management apparatus and method

ABSTRACT

A communication system includes a management apparatus and an agent apparatus. The management apparatus broadcasts the voice of an utterance of one of users of mobile communication terminals to the mobile communication terminals of the other users and to chronologically accumulate the result of utterance voice recognition of the utterance voice as a user-to-user communication history to control text delivery such that the communication history is displayed on the mobile communication terminals in synchronization. The agent apparatus produces an agent utterance text based on detection information output from a state detection device provided for a monitoring target and transmitting the agent utterance text to the management apparatus. The management apparatus broadcasts synthesized voice data of the agent utterance text to the mobile communication terminals and to chronologically accumulate the agent utterance text in the user-to-user communication history to control text delivery to the mobile communication terminals.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Embodiments of the present invention relate to a technique for assistingin communication using voice and text (for sharing of recognition,conveyance of intention and the like).

BACKGROUND ART

Communication by voice is performed, for example, with transceivers. Atransceiver is a wireless device having both a transmission function anda reception function for radio waves and allowing a user to talk with aplurality of users (to perform unidirectional or bidirectionalinformation transmission). The transceivers can find applications, forexample, in construction sites, event venues, and facilities such ashotels and inns. The transceiver can also be used in radio-dispatchedtaxis, as another example.

PRIOR ART DOCUMENT Patent Document

[Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2013-187599

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION Problems to be Solved by the Invention

It is an object of the present invention to provide a communicationsystem capable of forming a communication group including an agentresponsible for transmitting a state or status change to assist ininformation transmission among a plurality of users.

Means for Solving the Problems

According to an embodiment, in a communication system, a plurality ofusers carry their respective mobile communication terminals, and thevoice of an utterance of one of the users input to his mobilecommunication terminal is broadcast to the mobile communicationterminals of the other users. The communication system includes acommunication management apparatus connected to each of the mobilecommunication terminals through wireless communication, and an agentapparatus connected to the communication management apparatus andconfigured to receive detection information output from a statedetection device provided for a monitoring target. The communicationmanagement apparatus includes a communication control section having afirst control section configured to broadcast utterance voice datareceived from one of the mobile communication terminals to the othermobile communication terminals and a second control section configuredto chronologically accumulate the result of utterance voice recognitionfrom voice recognition processing on the received utterance voice dataas a user-to-user communication history and to control text deliverysuch that the communication history is displayed on the mobilecommunication terminals in synchronization. The agent apparatus includesan utterance text transmission section configured to produce an agentutterance text based on the detection information and to transmit theproduced agent utterance text to the communication management apparatus.The communication control section is configured to broadcast synthesizedvoice data of the agent utterance text produced through voice synthesisprocessing to the mobile communication terminals and to chronologicallyaccumulate the received agent utterance text in the user-to-usercommunication history to control text delivery to the mobilecommunication terminals.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 A diagram showing the configuration of a network of acommunication system according to Embodiment 1.

FIG. 2 A block diagram showing the configurations of a communicationmanagement apparatus, an agent apparatus, and a user terminal accordingto Embodiment 1.

FIG. 3 A diagram showing examples of user information and groupinformation according to Embodiment 1.

FIG. 4 A diagram showing examples of screens displayed on user terminalsaccording to Embodiment 1.

FIG. 5 A diagram showing an example of setting management informationaccording to Embodiment 1.

FIG. 6 A diagram showing a flow of processing performed in thecommunication system according to Embodiment 1.

FIG. 7 A diagram showing a flow of processing of a first case performedin the communication system according to Embodiment 1.

FIG. 8 A diagram showing the configuration of a network of acommunication system according to Embodiment 2.

FIG. 9 A block diagram showing the configurations of a communicationmanagement apparatus, an agent apparatus, and a user terminal accordingto Embodiment 2.

FIG. 10 A diagram showing a flow of processing of a second caseperformed in the communication system according to Embodiment 2.

FIG. 11 A diagram showing examples of screens displayed on userterminals according to Embodiment 2.

FIG. 12 A diagram for illustrating an example of interrupt processing toenter an individual calling mode during a group calling mode inEmbodiment 3.

FIG. 13 A block diagram showing the configurations of a communicationmanagement apparatus, an agent apparatus, and a user terminal accordingto Embodiment 3.

FIG. 14 A diagram showing an example of specified notification settinginformation according to Embodiment 3.

FIG. 15 A diagram showing a flow of processing of a third case performedin a communication system according to Embodiment 3.

MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiment 1

FIGS. 1 to 7 are diagrams for illustrating Embodiment 1.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of a network of acommunication system according to Embodiment 1. The communication systemprovides an information transmission assistance function with the use ofvoice and text such that a communication management apparatus(hereinafter referred to as a management apparatus) 100 plays a centralrole. An aspect of using the communication system for facilitymanagement is described below, by way of example.

The management apparatus 100 is connected to user terminals (mobilecommunication terminals) 500 carried by users through wirelesscommunication and broadcasts the voice of an utterance (speech) of oneof the users to the user terminals 500 of the other users.

The user terminal 500 may be a multi-functional cellular phone such as asmartphone, or a portable terminal (mobile terminal) such as a PersonalDigital Assistant (PDA) or a tablet terminal. The user terminal 500 hasa communication function, a computing function, and an input function,and connects to the management apparatus 100 through wirelesscommunication over the Internet Protocol (IP) network or MobileCommunication Network to perform data communication.

A communication group is set to define the range in which the voice ofan utterance of one of the users can be broadcast to the user terminals500 of the other users (or the range in which a communication history,later described, can be displayed in synchronization). Each of the userterminals 500 of the relevant users (field users) is registered in thecommunication group. As shown in FIG. 1 , in Embodiment 1, an agentapparatus 300 receives detection information output from a statedetection device (sensor device 1) provided for a monitoring target inthe facility management, connects to the management apparatus 100through wireless or wired communication, and is registered as a member(agent) of the communication group in which the users are registered.

When the monitoring target is a hot spring, the state of the hot springis its temperature, for example. In this case, the state detectiondevice is a measuring device such as a temperature sensor 1. Thetemperature sensor 1 outputs a detected temperature corresponding to thedetection information to the agent apparatus 300. Upon input of thedetected temperature, the agent apparatus 300 produces an agentutterance text based on the detected temperature and transmits theproduced text to the management apparatus 100. Thus, the agent apparatus300 is a device for providing an utterance (speech) function based onthe detection information as a member of the communication group similarto the users carrying the user terminals 500 and is positioned as anutterance (speech) proxy on behalf of the state detection device.

The agent apparatus 300 may be a desktop computer, a tablet computer, ora laptop computer. The agent apparatus 300 has a data communicationfunction provided through wireless or wired communication over the IPnetwork or Mobile Communication Network and a computing function(implemented by a CPU or the like). The agent apparatus 300 may includea display (or a touch-panel display device) and character input means.The agent apparatus 300 may be a dedicated device having functionsprovided in Embodiment 1.

The communication system according to Embodiment 1 assists ininformation transmission for sharing of recognition, conveyance ofintention and the like based on the premise that the plurality of userscan perform hands-free interaction with each other. In addition, thecommunication group is formed to include the agent for transmitting astate or status change of the monitoring target in the facilitymanagement, and the utterance function of the agent can help moreefficient acquisition and transmission of the information about thestate or status change of the monitoring target which may conventionallybe performed manually.

Equipment management in a facility is human-intensive and inevitablyincludes tasks of operating and controlling an equipment instrumentmanually. Such operation and control of the equipment instrument shouldbe performed while continuously checking the state or status of theequipment instrument. To do this, a user should visit the equipmentinstrument to check its status or visit the site where an associatedstate detection device is installed to check detection informationthereof, which necessitates a large amount of labor. In recent years,the use of IoT (Internet of Things) has attracted attention to achievecooperation between a sensor device and the operation and control of anequipment instrument. The IoT, however, has problems in cost and otheraspects, and thus the equipment management is still human-intensive.

Embodiment 1 reduces the burden on the users in manual operation andcontrol of the equipment instrument by introducing the approach in whichthe sensor device or the like configured to output detection informationfor presenting the state or status of the equipment instrument providesthe utterance function based on the detection information as a member ofthe user communication group. In addition, Embodiment 1 achieves asimple and low-cost system configuration in which the agent apparatus300 configured to receive the detection information from the statedetection device such as the existing sensor device can only be requiredto be installed in the site of the equipment management to easilyparticipate in the user communication group.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configurations of the managementapparatus 100, the agent apparatus 300, and the user terminal 500.

The management apparatus 100 includes a control apparatus 110, a storageapparatus 120, and a communication apparatus 130. The communicationapparatus 130 manages communication connection and controls datacommunication with the user terminals 500. The communication apparatus130 controls broadcast to distribute the utterance voice and utterancetext of the same content to the user terminals 500 at the same time.

The control apparatus 110 includes a user management section 111, acommunication control section 112, a voice recognition section 113, anda voice synthesis section 114. The storage apparatus 120 includes userinformation 121, group information 122, communication history(communication log) information 123, a voice recognition dictionary 124,and a voice synthesis dictionary 125.

The agent apparatus 300 is connected in a wireless or wired manner tothe state detection apparatus (sensor device 1) provided in the facilityto be managed and includes a sensor information acquisition section 320which receives detection information output from the state detectionapparatus through a communication section 310. The agent apparatus 300also includes a control section (determination section) 330, anutterance text transmission section 340, a setting management section350, and a storage section 360.

The user terminal 500 includes a communication/talk section 510, acommunication application control section 520, a microphone 530, aspeaker 540, a display input section 550 such as a touch panel, and astorage section 560. The speaker 540 is actually formed of earphones orheadphones (wired or wireless).

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing examples of various types of information.User information 121 is registered information about users of thecommunication system. The user management section 111 controls apredetermined management screen to allow setting of a user ID, username, attribute, and group on that screen. The agent apparatus 300 isalso registered as a user. Group information 122 is group identificationinformation representing separated communication groups. Thecommunication management apparatus 100 controls transmission/receptionand broadcast of information for each of the communication groups havingrespective communication group IDs to prevent mixed information acrossdifferent communication groups. Each of the users in the userinformation 121 can be associated with the communication groupregistered in the group information 122.

The user management section 111 in Embodiment 1 provides a function ofsetting a communication group including registered users to performfirst control (broadcast of utterance voice data) and second control(broadcast of an agent utterance text and/or a text representing theresult of recognition of user's utterance voice) and a function ofregistering the agent apparatus 300 in the communication group.

Depending on a specific facility in which the communication systemaccording to Embodiment 1 is introduced, grouping can be used to performfacility management by classifying the facility into a plurality ofdivisions. In an example of an accommodation facility, bellpersons(porters), concierges, and housekeepers (cleaners) can be classifiedinto different groups, and the communication environment can beestablished such that hotel room management is performed within each ofthose groups. In another viewpoint, communications may not be requiredfor some tasks. For example, serving staff members and bellpersons(porters) do not need to directly communicate with each other, so thatthey can be classified into different groups. In addition,communications may not be required from geographical viewpoint. Forexample, when a branch office A and a branch office B are remotelylocated and do not need to frequently communicate with each other, theycan be classified into different groups.

As a result, different types of communication groups may be set in amixed manner, including a communication group in which an agentapparatus 300 is registered, a communication group in which no agentapparatus 300 is registered, and a communication group in which aplurality of agent apparatuses 300 are registered. When a plurality ofequipment instruments to be managed exist in the facility, the agentapparatus 300 can be provided for each of the equipment instruments.When a plurality of state detection devices are installed for a singleequipment instrument, the agent apparatus 300 can be provided for eachof the state detection devices and registered in a single communicationgroup.

The communication control section 112 of the management apparatus 100functions as control sections including a first control section and asecond control section. The first control section controls broadcast ofutterance voice data received from one user terminal 500 to the otheruser terminals 500. The second control section chronologicallyaccumulates the result of utterance voice recognition from voicerecognition processing on the received utterance voice data in theuser-to-user communication history 123 and controls text delivery suchthat the communication history 123 is displayed on the user terminals500 in synchronization.

The function provided by the first control section is broadcast ofutterance voice data. The utterance voice data includes voice dataartificially created through voice synthesis processing on a text (forexample, the agent utterance text) and voice data representing a user'svoice. The voice synthesis section 114 synthesizes voice datacorresponding to the characters of the agent utterance text with thevoice synthesis dictionary 125 to create synthesized voice data. Thesynthesized voice data can be formed of any materials of voice data.

The function provided by the second control section is broadcast of theagent utterance text and the text representing the result of utterancevoice recognition of the user's voice. In Embodiment 1, all the voicesinput to the user terminals 500 and reproduced on the user terminals 500are converted into texts which in turn are accumulated chronologicallyin the communication history 123 and displayed on the user terminals 500in synchronization. The voice recognition section 113 performs voicerecognition processing with the voice recognition dictionary 124 tooutput text data as the result of utterance voice recognition. The voicerecognition processing can be performed by using any of knowntechnologies.

The agent apparatus 300 includes the utterance text transmission section340 which produces the agent utterance text based on the detectioninformation output from the state detection device and transmits theproduced text to the management apparatus 100. The communication controlsection 112 of the management apparatus 100 performs the function of thefirst control by performing voice synthesis processing on the agentutterance text received from the utterance text transmission section 340to produce synthesized voice data of the agent utterance text andtransmitting the produced data to the user terminals 500. Thecommunication control section 112 also performs the function of thesecond control by chronologically accumulating the agent utterance textreceived from the utterance text transmission section 340 in theuser-to-user communication history 123 and controlling text delivery tothe user terminals 500.

The communication history information 123 is log information includingcontents of speeches (utterances) of the users and agent utterance textsfrom the agent apparatus 300, together with time information,accumulated chronologically on a text basis. Voice data corresponding toeach of the texts can be stored as a voice file in a predeterminedstorage region, and the location of the stored voice file is recorded inthe communication history 123. The communication history information 123is created and accumulated for each communication group.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the communication history 123displayed on the user terminals 500. Each of the user terminals 500receives the communication history 123 from the management apparatus 100in real time or at a predetermined time, and the users can refer to thechronological communication log displayed in synchronization.

In a display field D, a text representing synthesized voice data may beaccompanied by a voice mark M, and a speaker's own utterance text may beaccompanied by a microphone mark H.

As in the example of FIG. 4 , each user terminal 500 chronologicallydisplays the utterance content of the user of that terminal 500 and theutterance contents of the other users as well as the utterance contentof the agent apparatus 300 in the display field D to share thecommunication history 123 accumulated in the management apparatus 100 aslog information.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of setting management informationfor use in the agent apparatus 300. The setting management informationincludes registered conditions under which the agent apparatus 300performs the utterance function and the associated registered utterancetext contents. The control apparatus 330 functions as a determinationsection for determining whether or not detection information satisfiesany of the determination conditions set in the setting managementinformation.

In the example of FIG. 5 , “Setting 1” specifies a condition that thetemperature is below 36° C. and an agent utterance text “Temperaturefalls below 36° C.” “Setting 2” specifies a condition that thetemperature is above 42° C. and an agent utterance text “Temperatureexceeds 42° C.” The control section 330 matches detection informationacquired by the sensor information acquisition section 320 at certaintime intervals with each of the determination conditions specified inthe setting management information to determine whether or not any ofthe determination conditions is satisfied.

When the control section 330 determines that any of the determinationconditions is satisfied, the utterance text transmission section 340extracts the utterance text associated with that condition from thesetting management information to produce and transmit agent utterancetext data to the management apparatus 100.

The setting management information can be input through a managementinformation registration screen provided in the agent apparatus 300.Alternatively, another computer apparatus can produce a file of settingmanagement information including recorded pairs of differentdetermination conditions and utterance texts, and the file can be storedin the agent apparatus 300.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a flow of processing performed in thecommunication system according to Embodiment 1.

Each of the users starts the communication application control section520 on his user terminal 500, and the communication application controlsection 520 performs processing for connection to the managementapparatus 100. Each user enters his user ID and password on apredetermined log-in screen to login to the management apparatus 100.The log-in authentication processing is performed by the user managementsection 111. After the log-in, each user terminal 500 performsprocessing of acquiring information from the management apparatus 100 atan arbitrary time or at predetermined time intervals.

When a user A speaks, the communication application control section 520collects the voice of that utterance and transmits the utterance voicedata to the management apparatus 100 (S501 a). The voice recognitionsection 113 of the management apparatus 100 performs voice recognitionprocessing on the received utterance voice data (S101) and outputs theresult of voice recognition of the utterance content. The communicationcontrol section 112 stores the result of voice recognition in thecommunication history 123 and stores the utterance voice data in thestorage apparatus 120 (S102).

The communication control section 112 broadcasts the utterance voicedata of the user A to the user terminals 500 of the users other than theuser A who spoke. The communication control section 112 also transmitsthe utterance content (in text form) of the user A stored in thecommunication history 123 to all the user terminals 500 within thecommunication group including the user terminal 500 of the user A fordisplay synchronization (S103).

The communication application control sections 520 of the user terminals500 other than the user terminal 500 of the user A perform automaticreproduction processing on the received utterance voice data to outputthe reproduced utterance voice (S502 b, S502 c), and displays theutterance content of text form corresponding to the output reproducedutterance voice in the display field D.

Then, the agent apparatus 300 monitors detection information output fromthe state detection device, and when the detection information satisfiesany of the determination conditions, the utterance text transmissionsection 340 produces an agent utterance text based on the determinationresult and transmits the produced text to the management apparatus 100(S301).

The agent utterance text may or may not include the detectioninformation such as a sensor value. In other words, the agent utterancetext is only required to indicate any of the determination conditionsbeing satisfied. For example, the agent utterance text may be anutterance text which includes no sensor value such as “Temperature isgetting lower” or “Temperature is too high.” Alternatively, the agentutterance text may be produced to include a sensor value, for example“Temperature falls below 36° C. Current temperature is 35.1° C.”Including the measured value can notify the user whether any emergencyresponse is required or some time is left until a response should bemade.

The communication control section 112 of the management apparatus 100stores the received agent utterance text in the communication history123 (S104). The voice synthesis section 114 produces synthesized voicecorresponding to the agent utterance text (S105) and stores the producedsynthesized voice in the storage apparatus 120.

The communication control section 112 broadcasts the utterance voicedata from the agent apparatus 300 to all the user terminals 500registered in the communication group. The communication control section112 transmits the agent utterance text stored in the communicationhistory 123 to the user terminals 500 within the communication group fordisplay synchronization (S106).

The communication application control sections 520 of the user terminals500 perform automatic reproduction processing on the received utterancevoice data of the agent to output the reproduced utterance voice (S503a, S503 b, S503 c), and displays the agent utterance content of textform corresponding to the utterance voice in the display field D.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a flow of processing of a first case inwhich the communication system according to Embodiment 1 is used.

As shown in FIG. 7 , the sensor information acquisition section 320 ofthe agent apparatus 300 acquires temperature information of the hotspring output from the state detection device (sensor device 1) at anarbitrary time or predetermined time intervals (S3001). Each time thehot spring information is acquired, the control section 330 determineswhether or not the temperature of the hot spring satisfies any of thedetermination conditions registered in the setting managementinformation (S3002).

When the temperature of the hot spring satisfies any of thedetermination conditions (YES at S3003), the utterance text transmissionsection 340 extracts the utterance text associated with that conditionset in the setting management information to produce, for example, agentutterance text data “Temperature falls below 36° C.” (S3004). Theutterance text transmission section 340 transmits the produced agentutterance text to the management apparatus 100 (S3005).

The voice synthesis section 114 of the management apparatus 100 producessynthesized voice data of the received agent utterance text (S1001). Thecommunication control section 112 of the management apparatus 100chronologically stores the agent utterance text received from the agentapparatus 300 in the user-to-user communication history 123 (S1002).

The communication control section 112 transmits the agent utterance textof text form to the user terminals 500 for display synchronization(S1003) and broadcasts the synthesized voice data of the agent utterancecontent to the user terminals 500 (S1004).

The communication application control section 520 of each of the userterminals 500 displays the agent utterance content of text form in thedisplay fields D and performs automatic reproduction processing on thesynthesized voice data to output the reproduced voice. In the displayfield D of each of the user terminals 500, the same agent utterancecontent is displayed in synchronization, and the agent utterance content“Temperature falls below 36° C.” is audibly output.

When the user C hears the agent utterance content and says “I'm busynow,” the communication application control section 520 collects thevoice of that utterance and transmits the utterance voice data to themanagement apparatus 100. The voice recognition section 113 of themanagement apparatus 100 performs voice recognition processing on thereceived utterance voice data (1005) and outputs the result of voicerecognition of the utterance content. The communication control section112 stores the result of voice recognition in the communication history123 and stores the utterance voice data in the storage apparatus 120(S1006).

The communication control section 112 broadcasts the utterance voicedata of the user C to the user terminals 500 of the users other than theuser C who spoke (1008). The communication control section 112 transmitsthe utterance content “I'm busy now” of the user C stored in thecommunication history 123 to all the user terminals 500 within thecommunication group including the terminal 500 of the user C for displaysynchronization (S1007).

The communication application control section 520 of each of the userterminals 500 performs automatic reproduction processing on the receivedutterance voice data to output the reproduced utterance voice “I'm busynow” and displays the utterance content “I'm busy now” in text formcorresponding to the output reproduced utterance voice in the displayfield D. It should be noted that the management apparatus 100 performscontrol such that the utterance voice data of the user C is nottransmitted to his own user terminal 500.

When the user B hears the utterance of the user C and says “I'm closeand I'll handle it,” the communication application control section 520collects the voice of that utterance and transmits the utterance voicedata to the management apparatus 100. The voice recognition section 113of the management apparatus 100 performs voice recognition processing onthe received utterance voice data (1009) and outputs the result of voicerecognition of the utterance content. The communication control section112 stores the result of voice recognition in the communication history123 and stores the utterance voice data in the storage apparatus 120(S1010).

The communication control section 112 broadcasts the utterance voicedata of the user B to the user terminals 500 of the users other than theuser B who spoke (1012). The communication control section 112 transmitsthe utterance content “I'm close and I'll handle it” of the user Bstored in the communication history 123 to all the user terminals 500within the communication group including the terminal 500 of the user Bfor display synchronization (S1011).

The communication application control section 520 of each of the userterminals 500 performs automatic reproduction processing on the receivedutterance voice data to output the reproduced utterance voice “I'm closeand I'll handle it,” and displays the utterance content “I'm close andI'll handle it” in text form corresponding to the output reproducedutterance voice in the display field D. Again, the management apparatus100 performs control such that the utterance voice data of the user B isnot transmitted to his own user terminal 500.

Embodiment 2

FIGS. 8 to 11 are diagrams for illustrating Embodiment 2.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the configuration of a network of acommunication system according to Embodiment 2. The communication systemaccording to Embodiment 2 differs from that according to Embodiment 1 inthat it provides an agent function in response to a question from a userspeaking on the user terminal 500. It should be noted that the sameelements as those in Embodiment 1 are designated with the same referencenumerals and their description is omitted.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing the configurations of thecommunication management apparatus 100, the agent apparatus 300, and theuser terminal 500 in Embodiment 2. FIG. 9 differs from FIG. 2 inEmbodiment 1 in that the configuration of the agent apparatus 300 ispartially modified by added sections such that the agent apparatus 300can produce, in response to a user speaking on the user terminal 500 asa trigger, an agent utterance text based on detection information andtransmit the produced agent utterance text to the management apparatus100.

More specifically, the communication control section 111 of themanagement apparatus 100 has a function of transmitting the result ofvoice recognition of an utterance voice received from one of the userterminals 500 to the agent apparatus 300. The agent apparatus 300includes a text reception section 370 for receiving the result of voicerecognition of the user's utterance voice, a text analysis section 380for analyzing the result of voice recognition of text form, and acontrol section (information provision section) 330A for determiningwhether or not an agent utterance text should be provided based on theresult of analysis in the text analysis section 380. The utterance texttransmission section 340 produces an agent utterance text based on theresult of determination in the control section 330A and transmits theproduced agent utterance text to the management apparatus 100.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a flow of processing of a second caseperformed in the communication system according to Embodiment 2.

As shown in FIG. 10 , when the user C says “Tell me the currenttemperature of hot spring B,” the communication application controlsection 520 collects the voice of that utterance and transmits theutterance voice data to the management apparatus 100. The voicerecognition section 113 of the management apparatus 100 performs voicerecognition processing on the received utterance voice data (1005) andoutputs the result of voice recognition of the voice content. Thecommunication control section 112 stores the result of voice recognitionin the communication history 123 and stores the utterance voice data inthe storage apparatus 120 (S1006).

The communication control section 112 broadcasts the utterance voicedata of the user C to the user terminals 500 of the users other than theuser C who spoke (1008). In addition, the communication control section112 transmits the utterance content “Tell me the current temperature ofhot spring B” of the user C stored in the communication history 123 tothe user terminals 500 within the communication group including the userterminal 500 of the user C for display synchronization, and transmitsthe utterance content “Tell me the current temperature of hot spring B”in text form to the agent apparatus 300 (S1007A).

The agent apparatus 300 receives the utterance text “Tell me the currenttemperature of hot spring B” in the text reception section 370. Thereceived utterance text is analyzed by the text analysis section 380.For example, the text analysis section 380 performs well-knownmorphological analysis to extract keywords (S3101) such as “hot springB,” “temperature,” and “tell me”.

The control section (information provision section) 330A of the agentapparatus 300 uses the keywords resulting from the analysis in the textanalysis section 380 to perform processing of information provisiondetermination (3102). For example, setting management information ispreviously registered to include the name (hot spring B) of a targetmanaged by the agent apparatus 300, a detection attribute (temperature)detected by the state detection device connected to the agent apparatus300, and information representing exemplary questioning phrase (“tellme,” “what is,” “how many,” and “want to know”). In Embodiment 2, thesetting management information is registered in the setting managementsection 350 similarly to Embodiment 1.

The control section (information provision section) 330A determineswhether or not the result of voice recognition of the utterance from theuser C includes any of the keywords relating to questioning about thestate detection device or detection information. When it is determinedthat any keyword is included (YES at S3103), the control section 330Aacquires the detection information in the sensor information acquisitionsection 320 (3001). In the illustrated example, the result of voicerecognition of the utterance from the user C includes “hot spring B,”the detection attribute “temperature,” and the questioning phrase “tellme,” so that the control section 330A outputs “allowed” as the result ofinformation provision determination.

In the above description in which it is assumed that a plurality ofagent apparatuses 300 are registered in the communication group, each ofthe agent apparatuses 300 determines whether or not a question isdirected to that agent apparatus 300 based on whether or not thequestion includes the name of a target managed by the agent apparatus300. When only one agent apparatus 300 is included in the communicationgroup, however, the agent apparatus 300 can acquire detectioninformation from the state detection device in response to a user saying“Tell me the temperature,” for example. In addition, the name of a statedetection device (temperature sensor) can be registered as informationprovision determining information, and in response to a question fromthe user C saying “Tell me the value of the temperature sensor,” theagent apparatus 300 can provide the utterance function based on thedetection information.

When the result of the determination in the control section 330A is“allowed,” the sensor information acquisition section 320 of the agentapparatus 300 acquires hot-spring temperature information output fromthe state detection device (sensor device 1) (S3001). The utterance texttransmission section 340 extracts an appropriate utterance text set inthe setting management information to produce agent utterance text data“Current temperature is 37.5° C.” (S3004). The utterance texttransmission section 340 transmits the produced agent utterance text tothe management apparatus 100 (S3005). The agent utterance text can beproduced by replacing the part “00” of a fixed phrase “Currenttemperature is 00° C.” previously registered insetting managementinformation with the detection information “37.5.”

The voice synthesis section 114 of the management section 100 producessynthesized voice data of the received agent utterance text (S1001). Thecommunication control section 112 of the management apparatus 100chronologically stores the agent utterance text received from the agentapparatus 300 in the user-to-user communication history 123 (S1002).

The communication control section 112 transmits the agent utterance textof text form to the user terminals 500 for display synchronization(S1003) and broadcasts the synthesized voice data of the agent utterancecontent to the user terminals 500 (S1004).

The communication application control section 520 of each of the userterminals 500 displays the agent utterance content of text form in thedisplay field D and performs automatic reproduction processing on thesynthesized voice data to output the reproduced voice. In the displayfield D of each user terminal 500, the same agent utterance content isdisplayed in synchronization, and the agent utterance content “Currenttemperature is 00° C.” is audibly output.

When the user C hears the agent utterance content and says “Temperatureis higher than reference temperature but turn on boiler,” thecommunication application control section 520 collects the voice of thatutterance and transmits the utterance voice data to the managementapparatus 100. The voice recognition section 113 of the managementapparatus 100 performs voice recognition processing on the receivedutterance voice data (1009) and outputs the result of voice recognitionof the voice content. The communication control section 112 stores theresult of voice recognition in the communication history 123 and storesthe utterance voice data in the storage apparatus 120 (S1010).

The communication control section 112 broadcasts the utterance voicedata of the user C to the user terminals 500 of the users other than theuser C who spoke (1012). The communication control section 112 alsotransmits the utterance content “Temperature is higher than referencetemperature but turn on boiler” of the user C stored in thecommunication history 123 to all the user terminals 500 within thecommunication group including the user terminal 500 of the user C fordisplay synchronization (S1012).

FIG. 11 shows examples of screens displayed on the user terminals 500according to Embodiment 2. As shown in FIG. 11 , each user terminal 500chronologically displays, in the display field D, the utterance contentof the user of that terminal 500 and the utterance contents of the otherusers as well as the utterance content representing questioning andcalling to the agent apparatus 300 and the utterance content of theagent apparatus 300 in response to the questioning and calling, therebysharing the communication history 123 accumulated in the managementapparatus 100 as log information.

In Embodiment 2, the agent apparatus 300 understands questioning andcalling from the user, and for each questioning or calling, produces andprovides the agent utterance text based on the detection informationfrom the state detection device. The agent apparatus 300 can act as apseudo user within the communication group to provide an environment ofcommunication closer to conversations between users for informationtransmission.

Examples of the facility include buildings in security service businessand berths (places for dispatch and arrival) in logistics business, inaddition to the one described above. Various state detection devices canbe used appropriately for different scenes in which the communicationsystem according to the present invention is utilized, in addition tothe temperature sensor.

A camera is an example of the state detection device. Based on imagestaken by the camera, the movements of people and the congestion degreecan be analyzed and determined, and when the analysis result shows “manypeople moved to bath” or “people waiting in line at the front,” theagent apparatus 300 can transmit an agent utterance text associated withthe analysis result to the management apparatus 100 to notify the userterminal 500 with a synthesized voice and a text display. In anotherexample relating to congestion, the congestion degree in a parking areacan be analyzed and determined to notify the user terminal 500 with asynthesized voice and a text display of “Parking area will be fullsoon,” or “Prepare for second parking area.”

The agent apparatus 300 can also have a function of extracting aspecified person from images taken by the camera. In this case, forexample, the agent apparatus 300 can match a previously registered imageincluding a specified person with images taken by the camera serving asthe state detection device, and based on the information about the placewhere the camera is installed, provide an analysis result showing “acertain person arrives at a certain place.” With such an analysis resultas a trigger, the agent apparatus 300 can output an agent utterance text“Mr. XX is at YY” and notify the user terminals 500 with the synthesizedvoice of the agent utterance text via the management apparatus 100.

In another example, a weight sensor can be used as the state detectiondevice. For example, in cooperation with a weight sensor used for anelevator, the agent apparatus 300 can output an agent utterance text“Elevator is crowded” in response to sensing of overload fiver times ormore within ten minutes, and notify the user terminals 500 (the users)with the synthesized voice of the agent utterance text via themanagement apparatus 100. Then, any of the users can to move to trafficcontrol as required.

A GPS apparatus (position information detection device) can also be usedas the state detection device. For example, the GPS apparatus can beattached to a cart pulled by humans, and the agent apparatus 300 can beconfigured to acquire position information of the cart from the GPSapparatus. The agent apparatus 300 can match a preset route or ano-entry zone with the current position of the cart and detectdisplacement from the route within a predetermined range or entry intothe no-entry zone. Upon detection thereof, the agent apparatus 300 canoutput an agent utterance text “Are you sure the route is correct?” or“You are in a no-entry zone” and notify user terminals 500 (users) withthe synthesized voice of the agent utterance text via the managementapparatus 100. The entry into the no-entry zone may be made not only bythe users of the user terminal 500 but also by facility users. In this acase, upon reception of the notification, any of the users of the userterminals 500 can go to the no-entry zone and guide such a facility useras appropriate.

The communication management apparatus 100 can be configured to have thefunctions of the agent apparatus 300. More specifically, the functionsof the agent apparatus 300 shown in FIG. 2 or FIG. 9 are provided as anagent section within the communication management apparatus 100, and thedetection information from the state detection device is transmitted tothe communication management apparatus 100. The state detection devicemay internally include a data communication function, or may beconnected to a separate data communication device such that detectioninformation can be transmitted to the communication management apparatus100 via the data communication device. The agent section of thecommunication management apparatus 100 can receive the detectioninformation output from the state detection device provided for themonitoring target and produce an agent utterance text based on thedetection information, thereby operating as a member of thecommunication group, similarly to Embodiments 1 and 2.

Embodiment 3

FIGS. 12 to 15 are diagrams for illustrating Embodiment 3. It should benoted that the same elements as those in Embodiment 1 are designatedwith the same reference numerals and their description is omitted.

The communication management apparatus 100 according to Embodiment 3 hasan individual calling function in addition to the group calling functiondescribed above. FIG. 12 is a diagram for illustrating an example ofinterrupt processing to enter an individual calling mode during a groupcalling mode in Embodiment 3. As shown in FIG. 12 , the agent apparatus300 transmits an agent utterance text, and the synthesized voice basedon the agent utterance text is transmitted only to a particular one ofusers within a communication group during group calling.

As described above, the agent apparatus 300 is registered as a member(agent) of the communication group. Embodiment 3 provides an individualcalling function between the agent and a particular user via themanagement apparatus 100.

FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing the configurations of the managementapparatus (communication management apparatus) 100, the agent apparatus300, and the user terminal 500 according to Embodiment 3. As shown inFIG. 13 , the first control section and the second control sectiondescribed above in Embodiment 1 and Embodiment 2 are shown as a groupcalling control section 112A. The communication control section 112includes the group calling control section 112A and an individualcalling control section 112B.

The management apparatus 100 produces and stores a list of group membersincluding a plurality of users registered in the communication group.The individual calling control section 112B specifies, in response to anindividual calling request transmitted from the agent apparatus 300, therequested user from the list of group members.

The individual calling control section 112B provides the individualcalling function of transmitting utterance voice data only to aparticular user selected from the users within the communication groupin which broadcast is performed during group calling. The individualcalling control section 112B performs calling processing of originatinga call to a specified user in order for the agent apparatus 300 toperform one-to-one calling with the particular user via the managementapparatus 100 during the group calling mode. The calling processing isinterrupt processing to the maintained group calling mode. When thespecified user responds to the calling processing, call connectionprocessing (processing of establishing an individual callingcommunication channel) is performed. This is followed by processing ofdelivering the utterance voice data only to the particular user from theagent over the established calling channel. The whole processing isperformed as individual calling interrupt processing for performingcalling with the particular user separately from the other users withinthe communication group while maintaining the group calling within thecommunication group.

The individual calling function according to Embodiment 3 can be usedbetween two users other than the agent. The management apparatus 100 candeliver the list of group members including the users registered in thecommunication group to the user terminals 500 in advance. Upon selectionof a user to be called in individual calling from the list of groupmembers, the user terminal 500 can transmit an individual callingrequest including the selected user to the management apparatus 100. Theindividual calling control section 112B can perform calling processingfor the selected user and establish an individual calling communicationchannel based on the response action of the called user.

The individual calling control section 112B can receive an individualcalling request and open an individual calling channel to a specified orselected user to provide a one-to-one calling function at times otherthan the group calling mode.

After the individual calling, processing of automatic return to thegroup calling mode maintained in the communication group can beperformed. The automatic return processing is performed by thecommunication control section 112. When the user terminal 500 isoperated to end the individual calling mode, the communication controlsection 112 performs processing of disconnecting the establishedindividual calling channel and automatic returning to the communicationchannel of the ongoing group calling mode. Alternatively, automaticreturn to the group calling mode may be performed when the individualcalling control section 112B performs processing of disconnecting theindividual calling communication channel.

The calling time during the individual calling mode (call start time,duration after call response, and call end time) is accumulated as anindividual calling mode execution history in the management apparatus100 together with a history of parties involved in individual calling.Similarly to the group calling mode, the utterance voice data during theindividual calling can be converted into text form through voicerecognition processing and stored in the communication historyinformation 123 or stored individually in association with the timecourse in the communication history information 123. The utterance voicedata during the individual calling mode can also be stored in thestorage apparatus 120.

As described above, the management apparatus 100 (communicationapparatus 130) according to Embodiment 3 performs, based on the groupcalling function, broadcast communication control of simultaneouslytransmitting utterance voice data and utterance content text information(text information produced through voice recognition processing on theutterance voice data) from one user to the user terminals 500. Themanagement apparatus 100 also performs, based on the individual callingfunction, individual delivery communication control of transmittingutterance voice data to a particular user (user for individual calling).

The agent apparatus 300 can previously store specified notificationsetting information shown in FIG. 14 . As shown in FIG. 14 , statusdetermination conditions are set, and a specified user to be contactedthrough individual calling is determined for each of the conditions. Thecontents to be transmitted (agent utterance texts) are previously set.

The specified notification setting information shown in FIG. 14 isprovided by adding users to be contacted (specified users and userdescriptions) and types of channel indicating a way to contact(individual calling or group calling) to the setting managementinformation shown in FIG. 5 in Embodiments 1 and 2. The determinationconditions in FIG. 5 correspond to the status determination conditionsin FIG. 14 .

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a flow of processing of a third caseperformed in the communication system according to Embodiment 3.

The control section (determination section) 330 of the agent apparatus300 receives detection information output from the sensor device (statedetection device) 1 provided for the monitoring target (S3001) andmatches the detection information with the “status determinationconditions” in the specified notification setting information (S3002).It is determined whether or not the received detection informationsatisfies any of the status determination conditions (S3003). When it isdetermined that any of the status determination conditions is satisfied(YES at S3003), the agent apparatus 300 extracts a preset utterance textassociated with that condition (S3004) and transmits a contact requestincluding information of the utterance text, a user to be contacted anda channel type associated with the condition to the management apparatus100 (S3005).

When the management apparatus 100 receives the contact request from theagent apparatus 300, the voice synthesis section 114 producessynthesized voice data of the received agent utterance text (S1001).

Next, the communication control section 112 refers to the channel typeand the specified user to be contacted included in the received contactrequest to check whether or not individual calling to the specified useris set (S1001A). When the channel type is “group calling,” the controlproceeds to step S1002 to perform contact processing in the groupcalling mode instead of the individual calling mode (S1003, S1004). Theutterance text and other data are accumulated chronologically in thecommunication history 123 (S1002).

When it is determined at step S1001A that individual calling to thespecified user is set (YES at S1001A), the individual calling controlsection 112B performs (interrupt) processing on the specified userincluded in the contact request for entering an individual calling modeduring the current group calling mode (S1001B). Specifically, theindividual calling control section 112B performs processing of callingto the specified user over an individual calling communication channel(1001C). Upon called, the specified user performs response operation tothe received call (S504 a). Once the specified user performs theoperation to respond to the received call, the management apparatus 100performs processing of establishing an individual calling connectionbetween the management apparatus 100 and the specified user over theindividual calling communication channel (S1001D). The individualcalling control section 112B delivers the synthesized voice data of theagent utterance text to the user terminal 500 of the specified userthrough the individual calling connection. As described above, thecontact is achieved between the agent and the specified user over theindividual calling connection.

The specified user after transition to the individual calling mode istreated in the same manner as “on hold” from the perspective of thecalling channel of the group calling. After the end of the individualcalling, the specified user can automatically return to thecommunication channel of the group calling. The communication controlsection 112 also stores a history of contacts to the specified userduring the individual calling mode in the communication history 123(S1002).

Two or more parties may be selected by the agent for individual calling.In this case, individual calling channels to those specified users canbe separately established, and synthesized voice data based on an agentutterance text can be delivered to them over those channels. Inaddition, different agent utterance texts may be set for differentparties involved in individual calling. More specifically, as shown inthe example of FIG. 14 , an agent utterance text “Temperature fallsbelow threshold. Notify specified user of action required” may be setfor a floor manager, and an agent utterance text “Perform temperatureadjustment immediately” may be set for a qualified person (for example,a boiler engineer). The floor manager and the qualified person areprovided with synthesized voice data based on the different utterancetexts under the same status determination condition.

The user to be contacted may not be a preset user. As shown in theexample of FIG. 14 , the position information of each user (userterminal) can be acquired, and when an event results from any of thestatus determination conditions being satisfied, one user or at leasttwo users close to the site of the event can be determined as specifiedusers who should deal with the event. In the example of FIG. 14 , whenentry into a no-entry area is sensed, a specified user is selected basedon the user position information, and synthesized voice data of anutterance text “Sensor finds entry into no-entry area. Take action asuser at close range” can be transmitted to the selected user.

As described above, the management apparatus 100 may be configured tohave the functions of the agent apparatus 300. In a variation ofEmbodiment 3, the management apparatus 100 is configured to include anagent function section corresponding to the agent apparatus 300. Themanagement apparatus 100 can receive detection information from thesensor device 1, perform the operations of steps S3002, S3003, andS3004, and achieve communication in the individual calling mode duringgroup calling.

Various embodiments of the present invention have been described. Thefunctions of the communication management apparatus 100 and the agentapparatus 300 can be implemented by a program. A computer programpreviously provided for implementing the functions can be stored on anauxiliary storage apparatus, the program stored on the auxiliary storageapparatus can be read by a control section such as a CPU to a mainstorage apparatus, and the program read to the main storage apparatuscan be executed by the control section to perform the functions.

The program may be recorded on a computer readable recording medium andprovided for the computer. Examples of the computer readable recordingmedium include optical disks such as a CD-ROM, phase-change opticaldisks such as a DVD-ROM, magneto-optical disks such as a Magnet-Optical(MO) disk and Mini Disk (MD), magnetic disks such as a floppy Disk® andremovable hard disk, and memory cards such as a compact Flash®, smartmedia, SD memory card, and memory stick. Hardware apparatuses such as anintegrated circuit (such as an IC chip) designed and configuredspecifically for the purpose of the present invention are included inthe recording medium.

While various embodiments of the present invention have been describedabove, these embodiments are only illustrative and are not intended tolimit the scope of the present invention. These novel embodiments can beimplemented in other forms, and various omissions, substitutions, andmodifications can be made thereto without departing from the spirit orscope of the present invention. These embodiment and their variationsare encompassed within the spirit or scope of the present invention andwithin the invention set forth in the claims and the equivalentsthereof.

DESCRIPTION OF THE REFERENCE NUMERALS

-   100 COMMUNICATION MANAGEMENT APPARATUS-   110 CONTROL APPARATUS-   111 USER MANAGEMENT SECTION-   112 COMMUNICATION CONTROL SECTION (FIRST CONTROL SECTION, SECOND    CONTROL SECTION)-   112A GROUP CALLING CONTROL SECTION (FIRST CONTROL SECTION, SECOND    CONTROL SECTION)-   112B INDIVIDUAL CALLING CONTROL SECTION-   113 VOICE RECOGNITION SECTION-   114 VOICE SYNTHESIS SECTION-   120 STORAGE APPARATUS-   121 USER INFORMATION-   122 GROUP INFORMATION-   123 COMMUNICATION HISTORY INFORMATION-   124 VOICE RECOGNITION DICTIONARY-   125 VOICE SYNTHESIS DICTIONARY-   130 COMMUNICATION APPARATUS-   300 AGENT APPARATUS-   310 COMMUNICATION SECTION-   320 SENSOR INFORMATION ACQUISITION SECTION-   330 CONTROL SECTION (DETERMINATION SECTION)-   330A CONTROL SECTION (INFORMATION PROVISION SECTION)-   340 UTTERANCE TEXT TRANSMISSION SECTION-   350 SETTING MANAGEMENT SECTION-   360 STORAGE SECTION-   370 TEXT RECEPTION SECTION-   380 TEXT ANALYSIS SECTION-   500 USER TERMINAL (MOBILE COMMUNICATION TERMINAL)-   510 COMMUNICATION/TALK SECTION-   520 COMMUNICATION APPLICATION CONTROL SECTION-   530 MICROPHONE (SOUND COLLECTION SECTION)-   540 SPEAKER (VOICE OUTPUT SECTION)-   550 DISPLAY INPUT SECTION-   560 STORAGE SECTION-   D DISPLAY FIELD

1. A communication system in which a plurality of users carry theirrespective mobile communication terminals and a voice of an utterance ofone of the users input to his mobile communication terminal is broadcastto the mobile communication terminals of the other users, comprising: acommunication management apparatus connected to each of the mobilecommunication terminals through wireless communication; and an agentapparatus connected to the communication management apparatus andconfigured to receive detection information output from a statedetection device provided a monitoring target, wherein the communicationmanagement apparatus includes a communication control section having afirst control section configured to broadcast utterance voice datareceived from one of the mobile communication terminals to the othermobile communication terminals and a second control section configuredto chronologically accumulate a result of utterance voice recognitionfrom voice recognition processing on the received utterance voice dataas a user-to-user communication history and to control text deliverysuch that the communication history is displayed on the mobilecommunication terminals in synchronization, the agent apparatus includesa utterance text transmission section configured to produce an agentutterance text based on the detection information and to transmit theproduced agent utterance text to the communication management apparatus,and the communication control section is configured to broadcastsynthesized voice data of the agent utterance text produced throughvoice synthesis processing to the mobile communication terminals and tochronologically accumulate the received agent utterance text in theuser-to-user communication history to control text delivery to themobile communication terminals.
 2. The communication system according toclaim 1, wherein the communication management apparatus includes a usermanagement section configured to set a communication group in which themobile communication terminals are registered, the communication groupbeing controlled by the first control section and the second controlsection, and the user management section is configured to provide afunction of registering the agent apparatus in the communication group.3. The communication system according to claim 1, wherein the agentapparatus includes a control section configured to determine based on apreset determination condition whether or not the detection informationsatisfies the determination condition, and the utterance texttransmission section is configured to produce the agent utterance textwhen it is determined that the detection information satisfies thedetermination condition.
 4. The communication system according to claim1, wherein the communication control section is configured to transmitthe result of utterance voice recognition to the agent apparatus, theagent apparatus includes: a text reception section configured to receivethe result of utterance voice recognition; and an information provisionsection configured to determine whether or not the agent utterance textshould be provided based on the result of utterance voice recognition,and the utterance text transmission section is configured to produce theagent utterance text based on the result of the determination by theinformation provision section and to transmit the produced agentutterance text to the communication management apparatus.
 5. Thecommunication system according to claim 4, wherein the informationprovision section is configured to determine whether or not the resultof utterance voice recognition includes a keyword relating toquestioning about the state detection device or the detectioninformation.
 6. The communication system according to claim 1, whereinthe communication control section includes: an individual callingcontrol section configured to transmit utterance voice data only to aparticular user within the communication group, the broadcast beingperformed in the communication group, and the individual calling controlsection is configured to perform individual calling control oftransmitting synthesized voice data of the agent utterance text producedthrough voice synthesis processing to the particular user.
 7. Acommunication method in which a plurality of users carry theirrespective mobile communication terminals and a voice of an utterance ofone of the users input to his mobile communication terminal is broadcastto the mobile communication terminals of the other users, each of themobile communication terminals being connected to a communicationmanagement apparatus through wireless communication, the communicationmanagement apparatus being connected to an agent apparatus configured toreceive detection information output from a state detection deviceprovided for a monitoring target, the method comprising: a first step ofbroadcasting utterance voice data received from one of the mobilecommunication terminals to the other mobile communication terminals bythe communication management apparatus; a second step of chronologicallyaccumulating a result of utterance voice recognition from voicerecognition processing on the received utterance voice data as auser-to-user communication history and controlling text delivery suchthat the communication history is displayed on the mobile communicationterminals in synchronization, by the communication management apparatus;and a third step of producing an agent utterance text based on thedetection information and transmitting the produced agent utterance textto the communication management apparatus by the agent apparatus,wherein the first step includes broadcasting synthesized voice data ofthe agent utterance text produced through voice synthesis processing tothe mobile communication terminals, and the second step includeschronologically accumulating the received agent utterance text in theuser-to-user communication history to control text delivery to themobile communication terminals.
 8. A non-transitory computer-readablemedium storing a program comprising instructions executable by amanagement apparatus connected through wireless communication to mobilecommunication terminals carried by their respective users, themanagement apparatus being configured to broadcast a voice of anutterance of one of the users to the mobile communication terminals ofthe other users, wherein the instructions, when executed by themanagement apparatus, cause to management apparatus to provide: a firstfunction of broadcasting utterance voice data received from one of themobile communication terminals to the other mobile communicationterminals; a second function of chronologically accumulating a result ofutterance voice recognition from voice recognition processing on thereceived utterance voice data as a user-to-user communication historyand controlling text delivery such that the communication history isdisplayed on the mobile communication terminals in synchronization; anda third function of receiving an agent utterance text produced by anagent apparatus based on detection information and producing synthesizedvoice data of the agent utterance text, the detection information beingoutput from a state detection device provided for a monitoring targetand being input to the agent apparatus, the agent apparatus beingconnected to the management apparatus, wherein the first functionincludes broadcasting the synthesized voice data of the agent utterancetext to the mobile communication terminals, and the second functionincludes chronologically accumulating the received agent utterance textin the user-to-user communication history to control text delivery tothe mobile communication terminals.
 9. A communication system in which aplurality of users carry their respective mobile communication terminalsand a voice of an utterance of one of the users input to his mobilecommunication terminal is broadcast to the mobile communicationterminals of the other users, comprising: a communication controlsection having a first control section configured to broadcast utterancevoice data received from one of the mobile communication terminals tothe other mobile communication terminals and a second control sectionconfigured to chronologically accumulate a result of utterance voicerecognition from voice recognition processing on the received utterancevoice data as a user-to-user communication history and to control textdelivery such that the communication history is displayed on the mobilecommunication terminals in synchronization; and an agent sectionconfigured to receive detection information output from a statedetection device provided for a monitoring target and to produce anagent utterance text based on the detection information, wherein thecommunication control section is configured to broadcast synthesizedvoice data of the agent utterance text produced through voice synthesisprocessing to the mobile communication terminals and to chronologicallyaccumulate the received agent utterance text in the user-to-usercommunication history to control text delivery to the mobilecommunication terminals.